But we see the diesel side of life.

Fellows, she has all the signs of terminal diesel bug bite.

Sorry, Jennifer, no known cure.

May I enquire, what is your major?

Diesel technology I hope.

Your crazy?

I just bought an 83 240 DL Volvo for $175 and drove it home.
If an 83 Euro EFI engine with 150K+ on it does not worry one, I don't know what would..

Beware the 126, it'll ruin you on your 123...

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Either way, whatever it is, it's mine and it works fine. It is so much more refined than my 240d.

Guys, I have a problem with the defrost vents bleeding air when it is closed. it fogs up the glass when the a/c is on. i have to resort to squirting the blue washer stuff and turning on the wipers to clear it. is there a way to fix this?

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Yeah, but you made decide (as I have, for now) to live with it. The vacuum pods in the center are probably shot. Replacements are available, but you have to take out the center veneer and glove box, pop out the radio and the electronic brain for the climate control, pop out the center console, then replace the critter. I think some people have managed to change it doing less, but it all cases its an exercise in mild torture. Widely acknowledged as one of the biggest pain DIY jobs there is on a 126.

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Tjohn

82 300 SD
77 450 SL (gone)

Jen,

You caught the disease: Mercedesitius. Get one MB, and the only cure is to buy more.

Rebuilt ENGINE for $1500, no way, more like $6000 to $8000. Sounds like your car got a used ENGINE transplant. But it could have been rebuilt at one time.

However at the price you bought the car, you can spend many thousands on it and still be OK. I would put some money aside for repairs because they could be expensive but worth doing. Unfortunately, there is less you can do yourself because these cars are more complicated.

Good luck with it.

P E H

The B23F in your 240 will easily go to 300K before rings are needed. It's an overbuilt engine with a very large crank and large rods. It's also very simple to work on. Check out www.brickboard.com and look at the RWD section. Lots of 240 owners there.

For engine info, check the 700/900 FAQ via the features pull down menu. The B23f and B230F are very similar in design. The B230F is a lower friction engine for better gas mileage.


Also, there is a seam running behind the front seats. It tends to rust from water getting into the passenger section. Check it out. I'm just trying to help.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Will do, thank you. It's an AZ car and I have found no rust at all visable from the outside, just got it home friday and have had no time to get under it. Will later today though. I kinda like the little thing..

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

the front of the injection pump has a plate on it with id numbers. if you can these numbers we can tell which motor you have, but it sounds like the 6 cylinder, 3.0L motor that was used on 86-87 300SDL's and 300DT's. those motor have a head cracking issue in some cases. if you read the head casting numbers near the #2 cyl we can tell you if you have an updated head. "14 01" is an original, >= "17 01" is revised.

-brian

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Brian Toscano

If only the defrost actuator is bad you can get to it by pulling the glove box. You'll be working blind so practice your hands on the recirc actuators visible when the glove box is out. Your choice as to whether to replace the diaphragms or whole actuator. My experience is that the defrost actuator needs all the travel it can get to fully close the defrost vents so you might as well spend for a new actuator. The diaphragms leave the actuator less effective. Not as big a problem on the single chamber actuators.

First thing to do is check the defrost vent actuator for vacuum leaks. Check at both nipples on the actuator. If you feel motivated, pull the passenger kick panel, the passenger lower dash panel and the passenger tranny tunnel panel to expose the bank of actuator switchover valves. Check that each line holds vacuum. You'll need a system diagram to determine which line goes where. It's unlikely that only the defrost actuator is bad. If the center vent actuator is good, leave it be. As tjohn says, it's a tedious job to replace the actuator. I lucked out with a replacement diaphragm. I don't think I could do it again.

The defrost actuator with replacement diaphragms in the SDL is slow to react. When I start the car after the heater core's been soaking in hot coolant (why did MB design it this way?) and the AC comes on, there's an aurora borealis of steam on the windshield that quickly clears as the monovalve closes and cool air comes through.

Some people never grow up. My face is red as I describe to a woman a system with diaphragms and nipples

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

Typical Mercedes thread. By the time you get the air vents to blow right, you'll breathe a sigh of relief when the mechanic tells you they need to swap out the engine.

They must have been nuts when they added computers to control the vacuum operated systems. Even they think so.

be nice. and thanks for the info. i will live with it until the spring. it's not going to be a problem in the winter.

sounds like the problem is the 'actuator' --whatever it is.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Congrats on your great buy. You may never drive another car again. Except for when you happen to walk by 'lil Pete and he looks at you with those forelorn lights...

I just bought some replacement rubber diaphrams for the vacuum pods in my 300SD and 300SDL. They were $5 a piece.

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Jen, I figured out how you can tell which flavor of 603 is under the hood of the SDL. Mash the throttle in gear and see how high it revs. A 603.96 is good for 4800-5200 rpm (more if you're Dslbnz), a 603.97 is limited to ~4300rpm. And what a way to get to know your new ride

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

Now thats a good test. You probably should find out if you ever need to buy engine parts you would need to know.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200